Kildare bolt on Meath in thriller

Gone in 120 seconds. Meath's aspirations of glory ended in disappointment at Navan on Saturday evening as a more clinical Kildare grabbed the winning scores in a late two-minute spell to advance in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers. The crucial 120 seconds were between the 64th and 66th minutes when points from the outstanding Emmet Bolton and then Ronan Sweeney were followed by a goal for Bolton which effectively ended Meath's chances and moved Kildare into an unassailable 2-11 to 0-12 lead. Meath were blown away in that spell, but instead of capitulating and dropping their heads they kept the faith. Pointed frees from Bray and Brian Farrell left Meath needing a goal in injury-time, but when Shane McAnarney spilled possession on the final drive referee Joe McQuillan signalled the end. Defeat was cruel on Meath because they produced a vastly improved display from anything they had shown previously this year. However, even their best wasn't good enough against an impressive Kildare side. It was Kildare's superior fitness and team work that set them apart. They were able to break at pace, swamp the Meath defence and then find room to get off shots late in the game as Meath obviously tired.That fatigue was only expected as Meath gave every ounce of energy and in some cases every drop of sweat and blood to the cause. They adopted the motto of the Special Olympics "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt" and brave they certainly were. The passion, hunger, commitment, heart and endeavour were obvious and with a little more luck the outcome could have been much different. Meath can look back and reflect on the poor penalty decision that went against them after only three minutes when Tomas O'Connor tripped over a prone Kevin Reilly, who could do nothing to avoid the situation and Johnny Doyle converted the penalty. The loss of Ciaran Lenehan after just 29 minutes was also a blow as he was enjoying a decent game, but the worst luck of all came two minutes after Meath drew level in the 55th minute when Seamus Kenny was forced off with blood oozing from a head wound. Mysteriously manager Seamus McEnaney opted to replace Kenny with Paddy O'Rourke instead of the more like-minded Anthony Moyles and Meath lost their energy around the breaking ball and the midfield sector. Replacing Kenny with the giant Skryne man required an attacking reshuffle. The shape was lost for a few crucial moments as momentum was halted and Kildare settled back into the game. Seven minutes after Kenny went off Kildare embarked on the purple patch that won them the game. The captain didn't return from the injury and Meath suffered. With Kenny gone no one knew who was supposed to pick up the rampaging Bolton and it was the Eadestown man that inflicted the damage as he was left unmarked to fist the winning goal with just four minutes remaining. It is on such finer points that games are won and lost and Meath's overall performance and the commitment of the players deserved better. After a poor opening around midfield Meath quickly got to grips with Daryl Flynn and Doyle with Mark Ward doing well after replacing the ineffective Brian Meade. Defensively, Kevin Reilly and Caoimhin King were outstanding and goalkeeper Brendan Murphy made a couple of spectacular catches and saves. With the defence well shored up and midfield breaking even it was up to the forwards to perform, but unfortunately they struggled to hammer home decent opportunities. There appeared to be an unease with some of the players to take on a shot. Cian Ward and Stephen Bray were exceptional and contributed well, but Graham Reilly and Joe Sheridan left their shooting boots behind them. Paddy Gilsenan was as industrious as ever and linked up play, but was rarely a scoring threat. In the opening half Sheridan pulled all the strings with a fine range of passing, but he wasn't as influential after the break as once again the shot options and decision making was disappointing. Only six of Meath's 14 points came from play and only five players managed to get on the scoresheet, four from play. Contrast that to Kildare's tally of 1-9 from play and nine different scorers and it is clear that the visitors had more options. McEnaney brought in Jamie Queeney and Brian Farrell to boost the attacking threat, but neither managed a score from play. Remarkably Queeney lasted only 18 minutes after replacing the ineffective Graham Reilly before he was then replaced by Moyles, who should have came in earlier for the injured Kenny! The manoeuvrings of the substitutions all smacked of desperation as the Meath management sought a winning formula in attack, but they failed. Despite the failure to concoct a winning formula, Meath played some excellent football and contributed handsomely to a brilliant game. The signals were bright in the early stages when Cian Ward arrowed a superb free from a difficult angle over 45 metres out between the posts, but 90 seconds later Kildare had their penalty converted by Doyle after O'Connor tripped over Kevin Reilly The concession of that goal didn't upset Meath's rhythm. Cian Ward responded with his only score from play and a minute later Kenny capitalised on great work by Lenehan to restore parity, 0-3 to 1-0. Shane O'Rourke screwed a free wide from a similar position to where Cian Ward had scored earlier before Sheridan picked out Bray with an immaculate pass and the O'Mahonys man pointed. Murphy did well to deny Kildare a goal chance when he closed down Fionn Dowling and forced Eamonn Callaghan to take his point. Two minutes later Kildare were in front again as points from Padraig O'Neill and Morgan O'Flaherty made it 1-3 to 0-4. Cian Ward replied for Meath with a converted '45' after his initial goal chance was deflected wide off Flynn. Kildare responded with O'Neill capitalising on a stray hand pass in attack from Graham Reilly to set up Dowling for a point. Cian Ward added another free before Kildare threatened to ruin all of Meath's good work with a brace of points from James Kavanagh and a simple free from Doyle. However, Cian Ward settled Meath before the break with another free to close the gap to 0-7 to 1-6 at the interval. The fears that Kildare would reproduce previous form and overrun Meath in the second-half were allayed when Hugh McGrillen's early point was cancelled out by a free and a '45' from Cian Ward. The successful '45' was awarded after the Wolfe Tones man had showed superb technique to pick up possession, round Aindriu MacLochlainn and fire a shot towards goal which Shane Connolly parried wide of the post. Another simple Doyle free after a foul by Mark Ward on Eoghan O'Flaherty restored Kildare's two-point cushion, 1-8 to 0-9, but Meath were on the front foot. Shane O'Rourke extricated himself from a clutch of players to loft over and then a superb score under pressure from Kenny had Meath level, 0-11 to 1-8, by the 48th minute. However, the hosts couldn't get their noses in front again and Bolton restored Kildare's lead at the end of the third-quarter. Again Meath managed to draw level. Cian Ward converted a free after Bray had been fouled, but then lady luck deserted Meath. Kenny's departure signalled the downturn in fortunes that led to Bolton's flurry of 1-1 and Sweeney's point which won the game for Kildare. Meath did pluck up the heart to stay in the game, but they were out on their feet and the dream of progression to round four of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers was over. SCORERS Kildare - J Doyle 1-2, 1-0 penalty, two frees; E Bolton 1-2; J Kavanagh 0-1; E Callaghan 0-1; P O'Neill 0-1; M O'Flaherty 0-1; F Dowling 0-1; H McGrillen 0-1; R Sweeney 0-1. Meath - C Ward 0-8, five frees, two '45s'; S Kenny 0-2; S Bray 0-2, one free; S O'Rourke 0-1; B Farrell 0-1 free. THE TEAMS Kildare - S Connolly; A MacLochlainn, M Foley, H McGrillen; G Whyte, M O'Flaherty, E Bolton; J Doyle, D Flynn; P O'Neill, E O'Flaherty, E Callaghan; R Kelly, T O'Connor, F Dowling. Subs - J Kavanagh for Kelly 23mins, B Flanagan for Whyte half-time, C Brophy for Dowling 48m, R Sweeney for E O'Flaherty 55m, O Lyons for Bolton 67m. Meath - B Murphy; G O'Brien, K Reilly, C King; C Lenehan, S McAnarney, E Reilly; S O'Rourke, B Meade; P Gilsenan, J Sheridan, S Kenny; S Bray, P O'Rourke, C Ward. Subs - M Ward for Meade 23mins, B Farrell for Lenehan 29m, J Queeney for G Reilly 45m, P O'Rourke for Kenny 56m, A Moyles for Queeney 63m. REFEREE Joe McQuillan (Cavan).